Procedure and House Affairs committee  My objective this morning was to bring these issues, which could become controversial during an election, to the attention of the committee. I wanted to share our understanding of the bill with you. I think it is for the committee to discuss them and come up with suggestions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It is two consecutive days, and from what I recall, one of them is Sunday, but I do not remember if the other day is Saturday or Monday. I do not want to mislead you.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You are correct in saying that voter turnout on advance polling days is not a great predictor of overall voter turnout. That is something which has been noted on a number of occasions. Secondly, it is also difficult to say whether advance polling days allow voters who would not

Procedure and House Affairs committee  With the exception of Sweden, and I could not tell you off the top of my head what its voter turnout is.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I believe that Mr. Blais discusses it in his paper.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Pay can indeed be a factor that facilitates recruitment and stems attrition, which is actually a fairly significant problem. The pay scale has just been reviewed with a view to the next election campaign. In fact, the new pay scale was already in force for the September by-electi

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There is no doubt in my mind that the bill would make it much more convenient for electors in terms of having access to exercise their right to vote. We have increased the number of advance polling locations over the years, but again, the initiative proposed here, to have a full

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It is very difficult, because again, there's been no experience at all with this new approach, which is quite innovative. Again, we always have to be careful in comparing things. One thing the committee may want to look into is what happened recently in the Ontario provincial ele

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. And maybe I should point out that Canada, to my knowledge, would be the only country to have two days of consecutive voting, along with, I believe, Sweden, among developed countries. Mr. Blais has looked at various studies, has looked at all the factors at play, and his co

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's 12%.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Firstly, a number of surveys have been carried out on how voter turnout is affected, and I believe the minister mentioned them when he appeared before the committee to discuss the bill. In addition, this morning we circulated a study on potential impacts on voter turnout that we

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The third operational issue relates to polling stations. Polling stations will be in the same location for day 1 and for polling day. In rural areas, the only places available for use as polling stations are often schools or places of worship. It is possible that churches are ava

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm pleased to appear before the committee today to discuss Bill C-16, the purpose of which is to add two advance polling days to the election calendar. This bill provides greater flexibility for us to serve electors by giving them more opportunities to

Procedure and House Affairs committee  With me is Mrs. Diane Davidson, the deputy chief electoral officer and chief legal counsel; Mr. Rennie Molnar, deputy chief electoral officer for electoral events; and Monsieur Stéphane Perrault, senior general counsel.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Prior to the enactment of Bill C-31, I'm not aware of any public consultation. There may have been, but I'm not aware of it.